YouChoose is about a lot of things: Raising money for great causes, Bringing great value to great sponsors, Giving the audience a great time... One thing we're most proud of is our choice, long ago, to not play what we want, but what YOU want, and then take that idea a step further. Not only does your YouChoose Band perform your songs - you get to sing and/or play with the band if you like. Since April, 2011 we have offered this. We want to briefly explain how it works - and why you should take advantage!

Live Karaoke: Sing With Your YouChoose Band - Here's How!

If you're someone who's more into video than reading, here's YouChoose Chief Organizer Guy, Dave Philp, explaining what you're about to read, but with more funny stuff.

It's very easy to make a song request. Find the YouChoose Event you want to attend (your right-hand column of this awesome website). Click and, in the upper right-hand corner, click on Request A Song. You'll be taken to a new page. On the pull-down bar, pull down and click which event you want. In the Pledge Amount box, type in how much the song request costs. Fill out the song, artist name, and your contact info. Click Send Request. You'll then be told where to click to pay, and then we'll contact you.

That's it! The whole thing should take about 2 minutes - 4 if you're not sure what song you want to choose.

Now, here's something really, really important. If you want to sing or play with us, you have to tell your friends. And your family. And your co-workers. And everyone you see. Part of our unwritten contract is you're paying to sing, you're going to have the time of your life, we're going to play out our hearts for you - AND you have to get fannies in the seats. The YouChoose Mission is to raise money for great causes. If you come alone, collectively we aren't helping the cause. So...

...In addition to buying the song...

...We're asking you to do one more thing...

...Just one...

Ready? When you go to those friends or family members, we're asking you to do one of these two things:

1. Collect $100 in pledges from people ($10 from 10 people)

2. Sell 4 tickets to the show in which you're singing for $25 each.

Hey, we WANT to have you sing with us. We WANT this to work. And we will do EVERYTHING in our power to make you sound good. In fact, you'll receive a personal coach to help you with your performance, from memorizing the words (yeah, if you don't know the words to your song, why did you request it?) to what you wear (we'll have suggestions) to how you move on the stage.

You're going to shine. We want you to!

But like a tree falling in the forest with nobody around, if you sing and nobody is there to cheer you on, did it really happen? (Well, yes, because your performance will be uploaded to YouTube. But don't tell anyone that!) You have to have people come to see you sing! Be proud! You're gutsy for making the request - now go all the way and get some people to see you!

You may be thinking, "How lame! They're taking my 85 bucks and making me sell another 100 bucks worth of stuff!"

Let's get that out in the open. Let's let the elephant stomp into the room and discuss this. Why are we doing this?

It's simple: We have goals to hit for every show. The causes we're working with need funds. We know YOU can help us get to each goal. From our perspective, it should be easy to get 4 people you know to see you sing. The whole night will be fun anyway. All you're doing is selling them tickets they should be buying anyway. When you think of it like that, it's really not a big deal.

We have people - no, they're friends now - who have made song requests and sung with us from the very beginning. Some people have made requests for every show. Why do they do it? Because it's fun. Because it's for a good cause. And because, well, we just said it: They made some new friends along the way.

Sing with us. Play with us. Get your admirers to come out and support you. They'll be supporting a cause and having a great time.

What's so wrong with that?

Your YouChoose extended family can't wait to share the stage with you! See you soon!

Have comments? Thoughts? Call/text Chief Organizer Guy Dave Philp at 917-204-1929 or email him at 917-204-1929.

Dave Philp is Chief Organizer Guy of YouChoose, a live events music fundraising and social media company that has raised many, many thousands of dollars for non-profit causes. Join the good fight and help change your corner of the world by visiting YouChoose now: http://myyouchoose.com/. To sign up for our email newsletter, click HERE. Mmkay?